Garbage and Treasure

Chance encounters between things and places

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老舊的疊球、破爛的鐵籃,是垃圾還是瑰寶? A worn-out softball and a broken basket. Are they garbage or treasures?

在東京有一家叫「古道具坂田」的舊物店,在開店之初,售賣的多是人們眼內的破銅爛瓦——燒壞了的陶瓷、不知哪個找來的瓷磚碎片、不盈一握的舊信封⋯⋯它們大都不是出自哪位專業工匠之手,但正因如此,店主坂田和實視它們為難得一見的瑰寶。因為專業工匠手工太巧,成品大一致,倒是技巧不成熟的那位,能做出意想不到的成品,期發出獨一無異的魅力。

坂田和實的獨到眼光,對日本工藝美學的影響極為深遠,不少人慕名拜訪。有客人向坂田和實反映,在他店內魅力非凡的,帶回家放在居室裡時,看來卻如同垃圾。客人也不生氣,與坂田和實一同哈哈大笑起來。物件與場所,也有著一期一會,置於不同的地方裡,物件自有著不同的光芒。

突然想起,我從事金屬工藝的丈夫的工房門外,長年堆著一大堆鏽鐵,風吹雨打、日曬雨淋,一年兩年,日子久了,鏽鐵看來就像被遺棄的小狗,表情落泊而絕望。好幾次,居住在附近的外國人經過,兩眼發亮,問我們可否拿些鏽鐵回家,我們一概回絕——他們不知道,那些看來像垃圾的鏽鐵,其實是丈夫的作品,為鐵器養鏽,是製作過程之一,而這個過程,常得花上兩三年時間,才使它們看來如此像被丟棄的垃圾。外國鄰居能在「垃圾」中看到光芒,實在不得不佩服他們敏銳的眼睛。

In Tokyo, there is a secondhand shop called Furudougu Sakata. When it was first opened, it sold mainly what many would see as worthless items — defective pottery, fragments of ceramic tiles from unknown sources, old envelopes that you will not even want to touch, among others. Most of them are not creations by professional craftsmen. However, it is for this very reason that Kazumi Sakata viewed them as rare treasures. Professional craftmen are so crafty and skillful that their creations boast a consistent quality. On the contrary, one with an unskilled hand is able to produce something unexpected, something that boasts an unique appeal.

Kazumi Sakata has an eye for such things. Such a quality has left a deep and lasting impact on arts and craft aesthetics in Japan, with his fame drawing many visitors. A guest once told Sakata that what looks exceptionally attractive in his shop resembles a piece of garbage after being brought back to his living room. The guest was not upset, but burst out laughing together with Kazumi Sakata. Chance encounters also exist between things and places. An item gives off different auras when being placed at different locations.

It suddenly crosses my mind that for many years, outside the studio of my metal-crafting husband, there has always been a huge pile of rusted iron. After being battered by wind, rain and shine for a long time, such as one or two years, the rusted pieces of iron look like abandoned puppies, appearing down and desperate. When foreigners in the neighborhood walked by, they would ask, with glittering eyes, if they could take some rusted iron home, but we would always decline. They did not know that the rusted iron, which resembles rubbish at a glance, constitutes my husband’s work. Growing rust on metalware is part of the process, which usually takes two to three years until they look so much like discarded garbage. These foreign neighbors certainly deserve praise for their sharp eyes, which mange to spot rays of lights in “garbage”.

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